Circular

Since global-scale sustainability has become a public concern, I would like to reevaluate "Metabolism," the avant-garde activities in town and architecture designs which started in Japan during the 1960s.

Metabolism presented an environmental device to enable a fluid city to undergo active metabolic changes. Cross-disciplinary activities to achieve this were sought not only in the architectural universe but also in the field of life science and industrial designs. Under the theme "Design 2050," which is to imagine the near future, the metabolism techniques of the 1960’s are of course a thing of the past, from which we can learn a lot, but we should reserve a feeling of detachment toward certain parts. In such a context, I would like to translate metabolism into a model as follows as a "Metabolism Model," which is still valid today:

1. to look at a city as a liquid environment and seek to create an environment system which can accommodate the liquidity of the city; and
2. to develop an environmental design as an experimental project in a cross-disciplinary collaboration.

"Design 2050" performs backcasting assuming the year 2050, focusing on environmental issues. Environmental issues should be considered not only as physical problems but also as fluid phenomena. Furthermore, they must be cross-disciplinary by nature. It is meaningless to discuss the environment in terms of architectural and city designs. It remains to be seen how a common awareness of the issues arising from visualizing the year 2050 is shared among people who engage in activities in different areas.

Going forward, the circulars will feature the following articles mainly on the website:

1. Introduction of metabolism works
   The remaining metabolism works will be introduced, starting from the Nakagin Capsule Tower.
2. Introduction of cross-disciplinary projects
   How is a common awareness of the issues arising from the practical visualization of the year 2050 shared among people who engage in activities in different areas? We will conduct interviews with a number of experts.